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A missed penalty on the stroke of half time cost Arsenal the
chance to finish Champions League Group B with six wins out of six
at Highbury on Wednesday night.

With top spot already assured, Arsène Wenger sent out a
much-changed, youthful side against Ajax. They struggled for
cohesion throughout but were handed the perfect opportunity in
injury time before the interval when Jose Antonio Reyes was fouled
in the area.

Thierry Henry sent Ajax keeper Maarten Stekelenburg the wrong
way but his effort went wide. An incredible miss from probably the
world's greatest striker.

In truth, this game barely got off the ground and a goalless
draw was just about fair. Ajax will argue they had more possession
but then Arsenal had the better opportunities. Both sides had
little to play for and, in all honesty, it showed.

Still, no matter. There will be much greater nights at Highbury
in this competition this season, starting with the Knockout Round
at the end of February

Before kick-off Wenger said he would rest Jens Lehmann,
Gilberto, Robert Pires, Freddie Ljungberg and Sol Campbell. In
addition Pascal Cygan and Dennis Bergkamp had slight knocks while
Ashley Cole and Gael Clichy had more serious injuries.

With all those changes, it is probably easiest to name the
players in formation. Here goes:

Defence (right to left): Eboue, Toure, Senderos, Lauren.

Midfield: Hleb, Larsson, Flamini, Reyes

Attack: Quincy, Henry.

The notable factors were these: Alexander Hleb was returning
from nine weeks out with a knee injury, Seb Larsson was making his
first start for the Club aside from Carling Cup ties and Lauren was
covering the 'problem position' at left back.

It was scrappy and disjointed opening. Understandably
Arsenal's unfamiliar side lacked fluency and Ajax were only
marginally the better side in the opening quarter of an hour. The
driving rain did not help either.

The nearest we got to a goal was Nourdin Boukhari's
fierce-looking shot from the edge of the area. It was blocked
before it could really trouble Manuel Almunia.

However the keeper had to be alert a few minutes later to deny
Markus Rosenberg just inside the area and the Swedish striker broke
clear.

By that time, Ajax had lost Zdenek Grygera, presumably to
injury. Hatem Trabelsi, a former Arsenal target, came on at right
back with Johnny Heitinga switching to centre half. Before the
half-hour Hedwiges Maduro had also limped off with the highly-rated
Nigel de Jong coming on.

Arsenal had created precisely nothing so far but they were
nearly handed the lead 10 minutes from the break. Juanfran's
clearance from left back ricocheted kindly off Quincy and, with
Henry was unmarked in the centre, the crowd sensed a chance.
However the Dutchman's cross was rushed and wayward. A few
minutes Quincy did have a sniff of goal himself but his shot was
tame.

Better was to come. Senderos strode forward and fed Henry who
found Quincy in the corner of the area. The 19-year-old's drive
was batted out by Stekelenberg to Reyes and the Spaniard's
first-time volley flew over.

We were deep into the injury time when the penalty came...

...and then went.

Ajax nearly punished Arsenal 10 minutes into the second half.
Steven Pienaar scuttled through but Almunia rushed out to block
with his body. In any case, the assistant referee had flagged for
offside.

Just after that, Heitinga brought down Reyes as the striker
raced through. The defender got a booking, the 22-year-old got a
knock he could not shake off. He made way for Van Persie with 25
minutes left.

Still Ajax had more of the ball but when Fabregas flashed a
header just wide it represented the closest legal chance of the
half.

With nine minutes left, Van Persie conjured up probably the best
moment of the night. He weaved his way through two defenders before
forcing Stekelenburg to save with this feet.

Ajax went straight up the other end and an attempted clearance
by Senderos went straight to Rosenberg who thumped a shot over the
bar from six yards when he should have scored.

In the final two minutes, De Jong's long range drive forced
Almunia to dive full length and tip the ball around the corner.

But it seemed to be a night when we were never destined to see a
goal.

Reyes leaves Maduro behindCesc Fabregas in the thick of the
actionQuincy turns on the styleAlexander Hleb is marshalled by
Juanfran

2005/06
FIXTURE LIST Copyright 2015 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the sourceRichard Clarke7 Dec 2005

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